The Color of the Rainbow
by hariboo-smirks
Summary: They’ve never known a girl like her before, and she can’t help but shine. Vala and company.
1. be sure to wipe your feet

Dedicated to Stef, who mentioned a while back on GW that she liked Vala with everybody. And because I agree, I thought I'd show Vala with (almost) everybody, because in case anyone hasn't noticed yet – I kinda love Vala.

SGA characters are included too, because: YAY!!

The Colors of the Rainbow

**Rodney – **_be sure to wipe your feet_

"Are you seriously still here? Don't you have someone else to steal from?"

Vala curled her lips, "Dr. McKay, I'm shocked that you would insinuated such a thing!"

Rodney rolled his eyes. "I'm sure; Zelenka's told me stories, you know."

"Honestly, I've turned over a new leaf as your people say, I'm only here in simple curiosity." Vala looked around the lab, "And everything here is too boring and annoying to steal… or are they?" She said, giving Rodney a once over, her eyes lingering on the area below his belt.

"What! Are you… uh… I…" he cleared his throat, cheeks turning red, "Funny, but I'll have you know I'm already dating somebody."

Vala tilted are her, pouting. "Really? Sam never mentioned anything about that…"

"She didn't!?" His cheeks turning redder, and Vala smirked. "I mean, what you care anyway? Aren't you dating someone too?"

"Dating, like commitment, are such confining words." Grinning, Vala began twiddling with an expensive looking device.

"Stop that." He grabbed the device from her.

"Only because you asked nicely, you know, you're cute when you get all angry and indignant." Vala smiled, leaning on his tabletop, causing Rodney to huff and look away from the cleavage that was being thrusted in his face. "Aren't you going to telling me I'm cute too?" She raised her left eyebrow.

He looked at her and sighed, "You're cute too."

"Thanks." Vala said and headed out. Just as the door closed behind her she heard, "Hey bring that back!" Giggling, Vala bounced down the hall.


	2. if I sang out of tune

**Sam – **_if I sang out of tune_

"That's wrong, you know." Vala announced, looking at the data streaming on the screen.

"What?" Shocked, Sam looked at her friend.

"There, that's wrong. Remember? You noticed the vectors were off and changed the algorithms so they would yield a better energy output, but here," Vala pointed to the computer screen in front of her, "you can tell that these readings are still showing higher energy readings than would be safe for the device."

Sam stared at Vala, the woman was right. Completely and irrevocably right. She smiled. It had been a long time since someone not McKay had pointed out her mistakes in her math, as uncommon as they were, but Vala had spent enough time with her that she could now easily pick up on the subtleties in her work. Leaning over the computer, she began fixing the mistake. "Thanks, Vala."

"No problem. So are we ready to finish girl's night? I brought the sparkly nail polish, pedicure kit, and apricot mask that I bought online from Sephora." Vala logged off her MSN, sending a quick nudge to Teal'c who she had been chatting with, and moved back to the couch.

"Just let me do this one quick thing and we'll start. Can you get the cookies and wine from the kitchen?"

"Sure, this recipe Cam gave us is great."

"And thankfully better than his macaroons." Laughing, Sam finished with the program and went to pick out the movie for the night.

"He spoils you."

"He spoils us. _Funny face _or _Key Largo_?"

"_Funny Face_, I like the singing and dancing."

As both women settled on the couch, they clinked their glasses and got ready for girls night in.


	3. a thunderstorm in town

**Teyla – **_a thunderstorm in town_

The woman was good. Though at first sight an opponent wouldn't think it. She was slim, with bright eyes and a beautiful smile. She was striking and could easily make any man fall at her feet, but she held an inner strength and a sharp mind.

Her outer strength was no surprise either. She moved like fire. Quick and fierce. Her arms were whirlwinds, spinning the sticks in the air with practice ease. Her legs were toned, and thin but like strong branches that could kick and jump with a power and strength that was not outwardly visible.

Teyla and Vala twisted and spun on the mat. The sticks they held struck each other like lighting strikes trees, their legs swept like quicksilver. Teyla's left arm moved, cutting the air as Vala ducked. Vala parried the oncoming blow from the right with her own stick, jumping back and moving her leg in a perfect roundhouse. The smaller woman dropped to the floor in a tight crouch, adopting a defensive position. Both women smiled, pausing for a second twirling their sticks, before they lunged towards each other again.

As they continued sparring, both were getting increasingly tired, neither had thought the exchange would have lasted this long. Both women exchanged powerful blows, but it was growing obvious that Teyla was gaining the upper hand, Vala who was more used to dealing with a single staff weapon, instead of two sticks, was feeling the unfamiliar strain of coordinating separate attacks. The two sets of sticks collided, and crossed with each other, their faces close.

"You're good." Vala grunted, pushing against the weight leaning upon her, she moved her arms in concentric circles, releasing herself from the stalemate.

"As are you." Teyla set her legs into position before she jumped, moving in a sideways spin, her arms moving in a giant circle, catching Vala's right knee. The taller woman dropped to the mat floor with an "_oomph_" only to see separate sticks held against her throat in a scissor move.

Smiling, Vala stared up at her opponent. "Nice move." With her own bright grin, Teyla lowered the sticks and held a hand out.

Taking it, Vala lifted herself up. "Can you teach me to do that?"

"Only if you will teach me the rotation movement you demonstrated earlier."

Bowing like Teal'c taught her, Vala grinned brightly, "No problem."


	4. counting stars again

**Teal'c – **_counting stars again_

Everybody thought that Vala felt completely at home in the SGC, even Sam, Cam and Daniel. The latter probably the least of the three, but not by much. Teal'c knew the truth – that she was just better at hiding it than he had. With her bright and sometimes over the top personality people just thought that she didn't really mind. That she was perfectly happy teasing their favorite archeologist, hanging out with Col. Carter and joking with Col. Mitchell. And she was most of the time.

But then there were the times when she knocked on Teal'c's door, and with several pilfered pieces of chocolate cake, they sat and just were. She would ask about his son, Bray'tac, Ishta, and even his wife, something that not many of the others did. Even the rest of his team. But Vala did, because she too knew what it was like to leave people behind, and not because they had wanted too, but because life had given them a choice and in taking the right one, they had had to sacrifice certain things.

Teal'c understood that in her coming to Earth she had choices and moments thrust upon her that she had not looked for when she had first arrived. Teal'c understood that even though she didn't talk about it, she had left people behind. So those nights she came to his room and asked him about his life before, he asked about hers too. He asked about her mom, her village, how she had met the men Arlos and Caius, other friends, her time after the Tok'ra removed her symbiote. She answered some, and didn't answer others. He understood.

He understood why she came to him too, when most people would have thought she would go to Daniel Jackson. The Tau'ri, as well intentioned as they were, usually did not have to face a lot of what their actions caused for the rest of the galaxy. The Tau'ri sometimes did indeed leave people behind, even when they did not think they had. They were still so young, but Teal'c and Vala had lived in the galaxy their friends had helped free, had help create, long before it had been freed, and not everything was as easy as they sometimes saw it. They were an idealist group, but not always the most cognizant group.

"So how many times did you have to watch this stuff before you realized how stupid it was?" Vala asked, turning off a reality show.

"First time I watched this program I saw how futile it was to continue watching it, but I am always curious as to who won. Bray'tac saw it once during a stay here, he rather enjoys it."

"Really?"

"Indeed. I Tivo it for him."

Vala laughed, "Sometimes I wonder how the same people that make television programs about eating insects, dancing celebrities, and off key singers, saved a galaxy. Even though I do enjoy that show with the people and their superpowers, I've always wanted to fly, and turning invisible would be _entertaining_." She grinned wickedly.

"Sometimes so do I, Vala Mal Doran. And personally, I always enjoyed Buffy The Vampire Slayer."

"Me too! I had a friend on Katana who reminded me of the red head."

"What was she like?" Teal'c inclined his head, seeing the memories drift through his friend's eyes.

"Smart, funny, she knew her way around a ship, helped me out of more than a few jams…."


	5. a touch of impatience

**John – **_a touch of impatience_

Vala smiled at the Colonel, he definitely was one of the finer specimens of Tau'ri genetics, and didn't even look like Cameron or Daniel. Some wonders would never cease…

"So this golf I've heard you play, is it complicated? Because I'm getting rather bored just waiting around for Daniel to finish with those texts."

John raised his eyebrow at the woman sitting across from him in the mess hall, she was grinning invitingly and he wondered if that was a regulation black SGC shirt, because if it was he was going to make all the women on Atlantis started wearing them too.

"Nah, it's easy as pie, Ronon picked it up like _that_. And no offense, but don't you usually stay and bug Dr. Jackson anyway?"

"Usually, but this city…" Vala trailed off, gesturing animatedly with her hands. "It's _quite_ the find." Her smiled held all kinds of innuendo.

"I know how you feel." John smiled.

"I thought you might. It's such a shame we can't stay longer, I love it more and more each day."

"Well, you could always ask for a transfer. I wouldn't argue the decision." John winked.

"I don't think the IOA would like that idea." Disappointed, Vala leaned on her elbow towards John, "I'm too much of a loose canon for them, too unpredictable, I guess."

Smirking, he leaned towards her. "Or maybe you're just too much for them to handle, it wouldn't surprise me."

She lifted an eyebrow with her own smirk. "You, my dear Colonel, are even more charming than I expected. I like it." Pouting, she leaned on her hand. "Daniel and Cameron have all the SF's at the base poisoned against me."

"The nerve."

"I know. They just have no appreciation for the healthy art of flirting." She reached over and stole a bit of his cake, and John couldn't help but smile.

"But I thought you, you know, had a thing with… a certain someone…" He trailed off, leaving the implication in the air.

Vala only grinned, eyes glittering impishly, "No more than you do." She left her own insinuation hanging in the air around them.

Their eyes were locked in a silent battle and both were enjoying it too much to stop.


	6. cuz there's nothing else to do

**Cam – **_cuz there's nothing else to do_

They sat watching as the rest of their team spoke to their former CO, and both couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Those four just had this way with each other. Daniel knew exactly what Jack was thinking, Jack would finish Sam's sentence, Teal'c would answer the question that Daniel was about to ask, and then Sam would smile at Teal'c knowing just how amusing he found the situation.

They were a family. Four sides, equal and perpendicular to each other. A perfect square. Cam and Vala couldn't help but feel a little disjointed.

They knew the others weren't doing it on purpose, they were just so used to each other that they forgot it wasn't just the four of them anymore.

Cam patted the legs that Vala had rested across his lap and smiled. "How long do you think until they notice there's no more beer?"

Vala leaned against the couch and drained the last of her bottle, "Give Jack a couple more minutes, I think Daniel is too far gone to even notice."

Looking at Daniel, both laughed at the archeologist who was too busy gesturing wildly and hilariously with the others. "You might just be right, princess." He tilted his head towards hers, "You okay?" Cam asked. Always attentive, he might not feel like showing his melancholy about the situation, but he would make sure her own was not ruling her.

Vala smiled genuinely, leaning against Cam's solid shoulder, but making sure not to rest too much weight on it – it was still healing. "Of course I am, you're the funnest anyways." She kissed his cheek.

"Flatterer." He tugged on her ponytail.

"It's still true. You're quite the gem, love." Vala leaned over, grabbed the last of the popcorn and put it on her lap for them to share. Across the room they heard the others laughing. Looking at each other they shrugged, Cam picked up the remote.

"Wanna finish the movie?"

"Sure." Cam scooted a bit on the couch and Vala rested comfortably at his side. The others might be a perfect square, but hexagons were a prettier shape, and well, in all honesty, neither Cam nor Vala had ever had a love for geometry anyway, so they were okay with it. They were still a team.


	7. boys of summer

**Ronon** – _boys of summer_

(Let's just pretend the Atlantis expedition doesn't get Power Bars grin Do they?)

"Want one?" Vala asked, hand extending a Power Bar towards Ronon. The giant man stated at the slim woman holding the bar, and raised an eyebrow. So far this had been the most he had done to acknowledge her presence. She just sighed, and leaned against the wall, "Wow, you're even quieter than Teal'c is, and he at least _pretends_ to listen to me…"

"What makes you think I'm not listening?" Ronon asked and took the offered food like substance.

"Ah! He speaks." Grinning, she gave him a once over. "That's good, because all looks and no substance is not as attractive as most people think."

Around a mouthful of Power Bar, which he found surprisingly tasty he answered the bubbly woman, "Thanks, I think. What are these called? They're better than the MRE's."

"They're Power Bars, I'm not too sure whether there's actual food in them, but the chocolate ones are tasty." Looking at how Ronon devoured the bar, she added, "Obviously manners haven't been very big on your to do list, Muscles Junior." She then made a face, "Nope, that doesn't work. Sexy? Sexy Hair?"

"Just call me Ronon."

"Just Ronon? But that's so boring… Do you have a last name?"

"Dex."

"Really? I like it… Sexy Dexy… It even rhymes." Vala grinned brightly, and then click on her radio, which had just beeped. "Yes, Mitchell, we're still here…. Yes, we'll wait for your signal." Sighing, she turned to the former Runner, "Are all your missions this boring?"

Checking the adjacent alley, Ronon shook his head, "No, we usually get into trouble right way, you just got lucky." He then turned to Vala again, raising his eyebrow, "And don't call me Sexy Dexy."

"Fine, it didn't feel right anyway. Lucky, huh?" Vala smirked, "Oh, I'd love to get lucky."

Ronon just looked at her and she waved him off, it seemed Col. Sheppard hadn't gotten that far in Earth education with the man. "Ask your Colonel what it means later."

For the next few minutes both just stood and shared the other two Power Bars that Vala had snuck off Daniel earlier. Then, just when Vala wanted to ask how he got his hair that way, they heard P-90 fire, and Cam and John yelling over the radio to run back to the gate. Neither even spared the other a look before they began running. At the gate, after a few angry locals, they stood covering the approaching team. It was obvious that the meeting hadn't gone as planned. The group was running and soon they all stumbled through the gate.

On the other side, Vala landed half on Ronon and McKay, patting Ronon's chest and accidentally kicking Rodney, she smiled, "We must continue this later."


	8. we are silhouettes

**Jack – **_we are silhouettes_

They had liked each other from the first day they had met. They found one another fun, quirky, amusing, and kinda hot. The friendship had been easier than most had assumed, because with their quick wit and sometimes biting remarks, everybody had thought they hadn't liked each other at all. Daniel and Sam had been very nervous the first couple days, but after a week they had seen that it was just the way Jack and Vala communicated.

Everybody on the base soon came to appreciate the sometimes very amusing conversations Gen. O'Neill and Vala Mal Doran had.

This was not one of those times.

Both stood and sat stoically in the infirmary. Teal'c and Cam were seriously injured; Daniel was in surgery, and Sam… Sam was lost. Both stood, and for the first time since they had met, did not talk to each other.

They just stood, sat, and waited. Carolyn had ordered Vala to her room, with her broken arm, burns, and sprained ankle, the doctor had told the woman to rest. Vala had barely stayed in her room for two minutes before she had headed back. Carolyn had tried to shoo her away, but Jack had just brought a chair out. Vala sat and that was that.

Together they watched as Cam breathed in through the tube, they watched Teal'c's burn marks glistened with the ointment they had spread on them, they waited for Daniel to come out of surgery, and they waited for word on Sam.

Finally, whether because of the painkillers they had given her or the fact that she just couldn't take it anymore, Vala started to cry. In her chair, she buried her head in her hands and cried hot, desperate, distraught tears. Everything felt like it was falling apart around her, around them. It couldn't end this way. Jack looked at her; he could see that everything he was feeling, and trying not to show, was reflected in her watery eyes. Jack moved towards her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he watched as she looked up at him, her normally bright eyes hopeless and fogged. He wished he felt differently.

He pulled her up and hugged her firmly. Together, they felt alone in this.


	9. caviar and cigarettes

**Elizabeth **– _caviar and cigarettes_

"Did you ever date Daniel?" Vala asked, entering the office that the SGC had given Dr. Weir during her stay on the base.

Elizabeth's head snapped up so fast that she was surprised she hadn't broken something.

"What!?"

"Did you ever date Daniel?" Vala asked again, punctuating each word, looking at the elegant woman sitting in front of her.

To her credit, Elizabeth did not blush or stammer, just stared evenly at the alien woman in front of her. When she had met the woman back on SG-1's trip to Atlantis, she had found her intriguing and amusing, her and Daniel had this odd but interesting rapport with each other, and she definitely hadn't missed the looks a certain Colonel had given the woman. Elizabeth had found the entire experience, for lack of a better word, enlightening. In her entire time at the SGC, before Antarctica and Atlantis, she had found Daniel pleasant, and undeniably cute (she wasn't blind), but she had never seen the more passionate side of the man, or the sadder side. It had surprised her. It hadn't surprised Vala. When she had been stunned into silence, Vala had understood and said what he had needed to hear at the time – that she understood how he felt. Later, she had seen on the balcony, how Vala seemed to be the only one to calm him. Now Elizabeth wouldn't say she was an expert on Daniel Jackson, but she knew people, she knew how to read people, and Vala Mal Doran called to something in the archeologist.

Elizabeth looked straight at Vala and answered, "No, I didn't."

Vala nodded, processing the new information. Elizabeth could practically see the wheels turning in Vala's head, she could also see there was much more to the question than met the eye.

"May I ask why you asked me that?"

Now it was Vala's turn to snap her head towards Elizabeth. "Oh… um… just curious. You seem like his type."

"His type?" Elizabeth titled her head, lips quirking.

Vala sighed and leaned on the corner of the desk. Elizabeth got a flash of a very different person who would do the same thing – she pushed down the feelings of wistfulness that the memory brought.

"You know, elegant, graceful, beautiful, smart, poised, patient, strong, brave, coffee lover, can read and write almost as many, if not more, languages than him, quiet, together. You know, you."

"Oh. I see." Elizabeth suddenly understood exactly why the stunning, yet uncertain raven-haired woman had come here under the veil of snooping. "But you know, I'm not as together or as patient as you might think I am." Vala looked at her curiously. "Let's just say there was this incident with these nanites followed by a couple of days of me wondering and second guessing everything. And as for the patience thing, it's all a clever ruse… inside, I'm counting the minutes until the IOA lets me go back. Everything else is just circumstantial… I doubt I would have to be as 'brave' or 'strong' if I still worked at the UN. I just do what I need to do to keep Atlantis floating."

"You still love coffee, you can read and write Ancient, don't scam, and won't hack into his computer, though it wasn't much of a hack – if you think about it, his password is pretty simple."

Elizabeth smiled softly at Vala; "Well you're right about the coffee, and the Ancient, but honestly, before Atlantis I was more of a tea drinker, the coffee just became a necessary tool to function. And Ancient isn't all that hard to learn if you spend enough time with it. I wouldn't say I don't scam, a lot of a diplomat's work is bluffing to make sure the other side isn't getting too cocky. Trust me, you've probably had to bluff less in your life than I have."

"You don't hack into his computer." Vala countered, despondently.

"The fact that you're allowed near his computer and that you can guess his password says a lot." Elizabeth pointed out.

"I guess…" Then, as if she realized where she was and with whom she was talking to, Vala pushed herself up from the desk and turned to the other woman, shy and nervous. "I… I didn't mean that I wanted to date Daniel, you know. It's just that the man can be so bloody puritanical about sex and the such, gives no fun facts away…" Vala had shifted back to her fun and flirty persona. She nodded to Elizabeth, "Well, it's a shame you didn't date Daniel, you seem like the kind of woman who appreciates the funner aspects of life, maybe you would have loosened him up a bit." Vala winked and left the room.

Turning back to her work, Elizabeth smiled. She missed Atlantis and couldn't wait to go back, but maybe the SGC wouldn't be too bad, there were definitely things that deserved for her to keep a closer eye on.


	10. out of my element

**Carolyn** – _out of my element_

Carolyn did not like going off world. She was not a solider, she was not a fan of gunfire, and she was all too aware off how often people got hurt when they went through the Stargate – after all she was usually fixing them up. She liked her infirmary, she liked knowing where the extra penicillin was, that there was a shelf of antibiotics and a staff of qualified personnel at her disposal. Off world she had none of these things. Off world it was easier to lose a patient, for many reasons. She liked knowing where she stood. Here she felt disoriented.

"You're worried."

Carolyn looked up at Vala, who stood by the door of the room, where Carolyn had set up her small workstation. The woman was lacking her usual glow, her eyes heavy. "It isn't the Prior Plague. The symptoms are similar, but the progression of them and the high fever that all the patients have indicates that it's something different."

"And that's not good?" Vala's eyes drifted over all the data Carolyn had collected on this outbreak. Carolyn could see she was worried too, beside Sam and herself, Vala had been the one spending the most time with the patients.

"No… You weren't around but it was a stroke of luck that helped us find a cure for the Prior Plague, this time… considering how fast it's progressing, we're gonna need another miracle or a stroke of genius."

"Well, then it's a good thing this team gets both of those in abundance." The quip was clever, but it lacked the alien woman's usual flair. Carolyn couldn't blame her, they were all exhausted. Vala was trying to keep her spirits up, but she couldn't quite pull it off considering her own spirits were so low.

Laughing tiredly, Carolyn ran a hand through her hair, "Too true." She sighed, she hadn't told anyone yet, but she feared that she was falling victim to this epidemic as well. It was either that or exhaustion. She hoped for the latter.

Sensing her mood, Vala moved inside the room and sat by her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Carolyn let herself deflate a little under the light pressure.

"It's okay. We still have more than enough time for miracles." Vala said, trying to comfort the doctor. It was lie, Carolyn knew, but she let herself believe it was true. "They'll be okay." These words came out harder, determined, and both women couldn't describe how much they wanted them to be true.

"How are they?" Carolyn asked.

"Their fever still isn't as high as the others, but they've stopped responding to the antibiotics." Vala sounded dejected, her voice hushed, her accent slightly huskier than usual. "Sam's sitting with them now. I thought you might need some company."

Carolyn nodded. It had happened yesterday, Cam and Daniel had fallen sick along with the remaining half of the village and three more members of her med crew. Carolyn had not pushed herself this hard since Quetesh's plant and the outbreak on Earth. She could still see Cam and her father helpless and dying in front of her. It wouldn't happen again. She wouldn't let it happen again. She looked at Vala, who looked tired and pale.

"You still feeling okay?"

Vala nodded. "Yeah. Sam and me still feel fine. Teal'c too. It's almost like this sickness doesn't like us or something." At her words, something in Carolyn snapped. Sam, Teal'c, Vala. They were all still fine and they had been on this planet, in this village as long as Cam and Daniel, and days longer than the med team. They had been exposed to all the same things as everybody else, but had one small difference between the three and everybody else. Symbiotes. Naquahdah had been filtered into all three of their bodies.

Shooting up like a firecracker, Carolyn turned to Vala and smiled at the woman.

"What?"

"I think I just had a stroke of genius. I need a blood sample from you."

Vala grinned at the woman's words and extended her arm.


	11. in a blue dress

**Carolyn** (Version 2) – _in a blue dress_

"You would look great in that."

Carolyn lifted her head from the window, which held the said item that she had been eyeing. Behind her stood the last person she would have expected to run into. But then again she was in a mall so it wasn't that big of a surprise.

"Vala." She tried to hide her surprise.

"Hullo, doctor!" The woman gave a bright smile, her arms full of bags.

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

Vala sighed dramatically, "Doing some much needed shopping. Nothing makes me feel better than incredibly expensive and impractical shoes."

Chuckling, Carolyn grinned. "Yeah, what is it about that?"

"I'm not too sure, something about woman empowerment I'm sure, they were talking about it on Oprah last month. But regardless, it's fun." Vala smiled, and then gestured to the window, "So are you going to get that? It would really look great on you. I wasn't just saying that to have an excuse to talk to you."

Carolyn turned back towards the window and shrugged. "I dunno, it's not really my usual style."

"So what? You're legs would look absolutely fabulous and I'm sure your date would think so too." Vala's smile was knowing, and Carolyn dare not meet her eyes. It didn't really surprise her that Vala knew, she was better informed than most of the SGC personnel, save for Harriman.

Still she tried to deny it. "Date? What date?"

"The date you're clearly thinking about purchasing that dress for." Vala leaned towards her and smiled, "The color would really complement's your skin tone, you're definitely a summer."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Fighting not to blush at Vala's words, Carolyn focused more intently on the dress held by the display case. It really was beautiful, and one of her favorite colors too, but it was a little bolder than her normal outfits. In fact it would be perfect for the woman next to her.

"Sure, you don't…" Vala rolled her eyes and grabbed Carolyn's arm, dragging her into the store. "Come on, you're getting that dress, and your date will love it. I even think there might be some drooling involved."

Carolyn blinked as she let the taller woman lead her into the store. "You think?" If anyone would know it would be Vala.

Giving a wink, with a beaming smirk, Vala said, "I know."

And despite her increasing blush, Carolyn had to ask, "Really?"

"Really."


	12. wild child full of grace

**Landry** –_ wild child full of grace_

Vala heard a knock at her door and fought not to throw another pillow at it. "Daniel! If you're dropping off another book about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, I don't care that I'm bedridden. I will kick your ass."

From the other side of the door came an amused chuckle. One that definitely did not belong to Daniel.

"It's not Dr. Jackson, Vala." Vala recognized the voice and moved to sit up.

"Oh, sorry. Come in, General."

Stepping inside, Landry looked at state of the room. It reminded him of Carolyn's teenage years. Magazines were strewn across the bed, there were several movies stacked by the TV, and there sitting on the bed was Vala.

Vala who was stuck on base until her chicken pox healed. Apparently helping Col. Mitchell baby-sit his visiting nephews hadn't been a good idea.

Landry had to feel a little sorry for her; he had already noticed it was practically impossible to keep her still at times, especially when she was bored, and now she was stuck on base, holed up in her room, until Carolyn cleared her. He knew this last week had been horrible for her. She had covered herself in chamomile, and it had taken two days until she had let anyone but Carolyn and Sam even look at her. He hoped this would cheer her up.

He smiled at her, "How are you feeling?"

"Absolutely miserable." Vala pouted, then shot up, worried, "Is everything okay?"

"I had a feeling, and don't worry everything is fine. I was just wondering how you were feeling. " He looked at Vala, hair up in messy bun and her face was still spotty and red, but she seemed better than before. And when he noticed she had put on thick gloves to impede with the scratching, he had to smile. Her room might remind him of when Carolyn was a teenager, but her face and pout reminded him of when Carolyn had been eight.

"Oh, still miserable." She sounded so glum that he hoped this worked. Moving further in the room he stood by her dresser.

"You know, when Carolyn was eight, she got the chicken pox too. She was miserable, like you are, the entire time. It happened when I was at home for a while, and there was only one thing that kept her from going crazy."

"Oh?" He could see the interest that sparked in her eyes, and smiled.

"Yeah, I went into her room one day, sat down with her and began teaching her to play chess." Losing himself in his memory, Hank Landry let out the softest smile Vala had ever seen grace his face. She smiled too. Landry continued, "She hated it at first, but then developed quite the knack for it." He paused and met Vala's eyes, tilting his head. "Do you think you might too?"

Vala was stunned in to silence. She now noticed the small folding chessboard the General held. Completely overwhelmed, she nodded softly. "I'd love too."

Hank Landry pulled up the chair by her dresser and set up the game on her bed. Vala sat across from him and smiled.

"Thank you."

"Just remember that after the first game." Smiling, Landry handed her the white queen.


	13. what sensible people say

**Carson** – _what sensible people say_

"You're quite the spitfire, aren't you lass?" A pleasant voice broke through the air.

Vala glanced up at the bright-eyed, head medical officer of Atlantis. "Oh, hullo Doctor!"

Carson smiled at the woman in front of him. "Mind if I join you?" He gestured to the empty seat in front of her.

"Not at all." Smiling, she used her leg to push out the chair. In her short time in the city she'd had come to enjoy the moments she had with the Scottish doctor. She loved talking to him and hearing his accent. It was so different from her own, but it still reminded her of her mother's voice. Soft and caring. "I'd love your company."

"Thank ye, lass." Carson sat down and offered the woman his extra muffin. When he had seen she was sitting by herself, he decided to pick one up for her too. Like most men on Atlantis, he couldn't help but enjoy the woman's company – she was quite the conversationalist.

"Thank you, love. So spitfire? Who have you been talking too? I promise they're all lying." Vala took a bite out of the offered treat, and leaned forward, a wicked grin covering her face.

Carson just blinked his doe blue eyes innocently and drank from his water. "I've been talking to no one."

From the look Vala gave him, it was obvious she didn't believe him.

"Truly. But it's not that hard to notice that you, my dear, have lit a fire under the proverbial pants of every male since you came down from the _Odyssey_."

"Really!?" She looked like kid who had just been told Christmas was a month early.

"I even think Radek has finally stopped muttering about you in Czech. Did you really try to steal something?"

"Oh, that! Well, that was completely blown out of proportion. I was simply curious about what the device did. Honestly." Vala pouted, "You do believe me, don't you?"

Carson smiled. He had to admit the woman was a charmer, but he could also see that she was an honest soul. A sweet soul.

"Of course I do, lass. And anyone who can make Rodney blush that fast is top notch in my in my book." Carson gave her a wink.

Vala grinned, this man was adorable. "As are you, my darling doctor."


	14. waiting for the man

**Hammond** – _waiting for the man_

General George Hammond walked casually into the room, eyes falling on its sole occupant. "You know, technically, you should be in jail."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"No, we never formally met. You were too busy taking my ship to exchange pleasantries."

"Oh… Oh! You're General Hammond, aren't you?" Vala squirmed in her seat.

"Right you are, miss."

Vala cleared her throat, her face growing shyer. She stood up to properly speak with the man. "Oh, um… I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry about that. It wasn't anything against you personally, just business."

"Business?"

"Less than reputable business?"

"I see."

Vala looked pensively at the General and had to ask, "Would you have really put me in jail?"

Hammond nodded. "After the events on the _Prometheus_, we wouldn't have thought twice about it. You caused us a lot of damages."

"Um, yeah, I know. I've read the mission report and your state's law," At Hammond's look, Vala explained, "I was bored and read all these law books that were lying around, I thought it'd be best to know this planet's legal loopholes." She paused, and smiled awkwardly, self-conscious. "Not that I would have used them. Anyways, I know that I should have been put in jail for I believe, reckless endangerment, and an intentional attempt at manslaughter, or something equally malicious. But I really am sorry. Really. I didn't want to truly hurt anyone. I made sure the ship had enough life support for a few hours, long enough for you to hail someone or to ring aboard the other ship and get the other crystals – I didn't know about the carbon monoxide poisoning I read about in the reports."

George Hammond could only look at the woman and be impressed, and was also reminded of his granddaughter when scolded. He decided to give her a break. It wasn't like he was angry with her. "And I hope you know the only reason you weren't put in jail after, was because Dr. Jackson vouched for you."

At that Vala grinned, wide and bright. "Well, that's because Daniel loves me."

"Does he now?" Hammond was beginning to see just why every body had come to like this woman.

Vala nodded enthusiastically. "He does, he just doesn't know it."

George Hammond had to laugh at that, and wished Daniel Jackson luck with this woman. She was a firecracker.

"You know, I have tell you, Ms. Mal Doran, I'm beginning to see why you've been such a welcome addition to the SGC and SG-1." He sat down at the head of the briefing room table.

"You are?" Vala leaned towards the general, curious of his assessment of her.

"Of course, who wouldn't want a beautiful young woman on their team." George Hammond gave Vala his first smile, but not his last.

Vala smiled back, blushing a little. "Thank you, General Hammond." Hammond couldn't help but think the woman had a great smile.

"Call me George."

"Call me Vala."


End file.
